Echo Earth

Born to Uzbekistan in 1963, Cecil K got an immediate start on understanding various cultures. Being of Turkish descent, he came to speak both Turkish and Uzbek as he attended high school then an art university from 1978 to 1982. While he was in college he created a drawing called The Horse and he received the best grade possible, inspiring the artist to pursue his natural talent. From that day on sketching with pencil became one of his favorite ways to express himself. It would be a few years of technical jobs in the army and then in a metal factory before he would be able to refocus the majority of his mind’s eye on the arts.

When the Soviet Union fell, he moved from Uzbekistan to Russia, he was unable to pursue an artistic career due to a lack of work available so he escaped to a simpler life working on farms and orchards. Drawn into the demanding lifestyle of a farmer, he made a living selling goods and on the side he worked with a partner to create advertising for local companies. The creativity of advertising unearthed his love of painting and he reunited with his natural passion and talent. After traveling to Antalya, Turkey in 1998 he came across an opportunity to open a studio and teach art as well as refine his own technique; an enlivening break that he took advantage of with great enthusiasm. It was during this time that Cecil K sold his first artwork; an oil painting on canvas of the old downtown of Antalya and got the first taste of what an artistic career would be like. Because he wasn’t a Turkish citizen, he had to go back to Russia in 2005 but – by April – political problems in Russia forced him to emigrate to the United States.

His work can be found internationally and across the United States in galleries as well as within residences of private collectors.